An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
Encyclopedia
Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines (An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races) (1853–1855) by Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau
was intended as a work of philosophical enquiry into decline and degeneration. It is today considered as one of the earliest examples of scientific racism
.
Expanding upon Boulainvilliers' use of ethnography
to defend the Ancien Regime against the claims of the Third Estate, de Gobineau aimed for an explanatory system universal in scope
: namely, that race is the primary force determining world events. Using scientific disciplines as varied as linguistics
and anthropology
, de Gobineau divides the human species into three major groupings, white, yellow and black, claiming to demonstrate that "history springs only from contact with the white races." Among the white races, he distinguishes the Aryan race
as the pinnacle of human development, comprising the basis of all European aristocracies. However, inevitable miscegenation led to the 'downfall of civilizations'.
when Gobineau began studying the works of Xavier Bichat and Johann Blumenbach.
The book was dedicated to King George V of Hanover
(1851–66), the last king of Hanover
. In the dedication, Gobineau writes that he presents to His Majesty the fruits of his speculations and studies into the hidden causes of the "revolutions, bloody wars, and lawlessness" ("révolutions, guerres sanglantes, renversements de lois") of the age.
In a letter to Count Anton von Prokesch-Osten
in 1856 he describes the book as based upon “a hatred for democracy and its weapon, the Revolution, which I satisfied by showing, in a variety of ways, where revolution and democracy come from and where they are going.”
By this Gobineau refers to his division of humans into three main races: white, black, and yellow. The biblical division into Hamites, Semites, and Japhetites is for Gobineau a division within the white race. In general, Gobineau considers the Bible to be a reliable source of actual history, and he was not a supporter of the idea of polygenesis
.
In Vol VI, chapter 7, "Les indigènes américans" ("The native Americans"), Gobineau discusses the racial status of the native Americans and ends up suggesting that at least the royal families of the three American civilization groups mentioned above (8.-10.) were white, even Aryans of Scandinavian origin.
to translate the work into English. Hotze's translation was published in 1856 as The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races, with an added essay from Hotze and appendix from Nott. However, it "omitted the laws of repulusion and attraction, which were at the heart of Gobineau's account of the role of race-mixing in the rise and fall of civilizations". Gobineau was not pleased with the version; Gobineau was "particularly concerned that Hotze had ignored his comments on 'American decay generally and upon slaveholding in particular'."
The German translation Versuch Uber Die Ungleichheit Der Menschenracen first appeared in 1897 and was translated by Ludwig Schemann, a member of the Bayreuth Circle
and "one of the most important racial theorists of imperial and Weimar Germany".
A new English language version The Inequality of Human Races, translated by Adrian Collins, was published in Britain and the USA in 1915 and remains the standard English language version. It continues to be republished in the USA.
Gobineau's ideas found an audience in the United States and in German-speaking areas more so than in France, becoming the inspiration for a host of racial theories, for example those of Houston Stewart Chamberlain
. "Gobineau was the first to theorize that race was the deciding factor in history and the precursors of Nazism repeated some of his ideas, but his principle arguments were either ignored, deformed, or taken out of context in German racial thought".
The Historian and Hitler-Biographer Joachim C. Fest describes Arthur de Gobineau, in particular his negative views on race mixing as expressed in his essay, as an eminent influence on Adolf Hitler
and National socialism. In the Chapter "Vision" within his Book "Hitler" he writes that the influence of Gobineau on Hitler can be easily seen and that Gobineaus ideas were used by Hitler in simplified form for demagogic purposes: "Significantly, Hitler simplified Gobineau's elaborate doctrine until it became demagogically usable and offered a set of plausible explanations for all the discontents, anxieties, and crises of the contemporary scene." However, Professor Steven Kale has cautioned that "Gobineau’s influence on German racism has been repeatedly overstated".
Arthur de Gobineau
Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau was a French aristocrat, novelist and man of letters who became famous for developing the theory of the Aryan master race in his book An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races...
was intended as a work of philosophical enquiry into decline and degeneration. It is today considered as one of the earliest examples of scientific racism
Scientific racism
Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
.
Expanding upon Boulainvilliers' use of ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
to defend the Ancien Regime against the claims of the Third Estate, de Gobineau aimed for an explanatory system universal in scope
Metanarrative
A metanarrative , in critical theory and particularly postmodernism, is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge. According to John Stephens, it "is a global or totalizing cultural narrative schema which orders and explains knowledge...
: namely, that race is the primary force determining world events. Using scientific disciplines as varied as linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, de Gobineau divides the human species into three major groupings, white, yellow and black, claiming to demonstrate that "history springs only from contact with the white races." Among the white races, he distinguishes the Aryan race
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
as the pinnacle of human development, comprising the basis of all European aristocracies. However, inevitable miscegenation led to the 'downfall of civilizations'.
Background to the Book
Gobineau was a Legitimist who despaired at France's decline into republicanism and centralization. The book was written after the 1848 revolutionFrench Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
when Gobineau began studying the works of Xavier Bichat and Johann Blumenbach.
The book was dedicated to King George V of Hanover
George V of Hanover
George V was King of Hanover, the only child of Ernest Augustus I, and a grandchild of King George III of the United Kingdom. In the peerage of Great Britain, he was 2nd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, 2nd Earl of Armagh...
(1851–66), the last king of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. In the dedication, Gobineau writes that he presents to His Majesty the fruits of his speculations and studies into the hidden causes of the "revolutions, bloody wars, and lawlessness" ("révolutions, guerres sanglantes, renversements de lois") of the age.
In a letter to Count Anton von Prokesch-Osten
Anton von Prokesch-Osten
Anton von Prokesch-Osten, was an Austrian diplomat, statesman and general.- Life :Anton von Prokesch was a man of great versatility, whose multi-faceted career as a soldier, then as a diplomat and statesman, was one of the most remarkable of Austria in the nineteenth century.He participated in...
in 1856 he describes the book as based upon “a hatred for democracy and its weapon, the Revolution, which I satisfied by showing, in a variety of ways, where revolution and democracy come from and where they are going.”
Gobineau and the Bible
In Vol I, chapter 11, "Les différences ethniques sont permanentes" ("The ethnic differences are permanent"), Gobineau writes that "Adam is the originator of our white species" ("Adam soit l’auteur de notre espèce blanche"), and creatures not part of the white race are not part of that species.By this Gobineau refers to his division of humans into three main races: white, black, and yellow. The biblical division into Hamites, Semites, and Japhetites is for Gobineau a division within the white race. In general, Gobineau considers the Bible to be a reliable source of actual history, and he was not a supporter of the idea of polygenesis
Polygenism
Polygenism is a theory of human origins positing that the human races are of different lineages . This is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity.- Origins :...
.
Superiority of the Aryans
Vol I, chapter 16, the final chapter of that volume, carries the long superscript "Récapitulation; caractères respectifs des trois grandes races; effects sociaux des mélanges; supérorité du type blanc et, dans ce type, de la famille ariane", or, in English, "Recapitulation; respective characters of the three great races; social effects of [racial] mixtures; superiority of the white type and, within that type, of the Aryan family". Gobineau claims that there have been no more than ten great civilizations, and that they have all been started by the white race. These civilizations are:- The IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n civilization - built around a branch of the Aryans. - The EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian civilization - founded by an Aryan colony from India. - The AssyriaAssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns - to which are attached other civilizations such as the Jewish and the Phoenician. According to Gobineau, these are Hamites and Semites. Gobineau places the Iranian civilizations here, but claims that they are Aryans. - The GreeksGreeksThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
- originally Aryans, but with Semitic elements. - The ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
civilization - like the Egyptian founded by an Aryan colony from India. - The old civilization of the Italian PeninsulaItalian PeninsulaThe Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
- became a mosaic of Celts, IberiaIberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
ns, AryansAryan raceThe Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
, and Semites. - The Germanic races transformed in the 5th century the western spirit - they were Aryans.
- The Alleghanian civilizations in America.
- The MexicanHistory of MexicoThe history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...
civilizations in America. - The PeruvianHistory of PeruThe history of Peru spans several millennia, extending back through several stages of cultural development in the mountain region and the coastal desert....
civilization in America.
In Vol VI, chapter 7, "Les indigènes américans" ("The native Americans"), Gobineau discusses the racial status of the native Americans and ends up suggesting that at least the royal families of the three American civilization groups mentioned above (8.-10.) were white, even Aryans of Scandinavian origin.
Translation
Josiah Clark Nott hired Henry HotzeHenry Hotze
Henry Hotze was a Swiss-born propagandist for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
to translate the work into English. Hotze's translation was published in 1856 as The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races, with an added essay from Hotze and appendix from Nott. However, it "omitted the laws of repulusion and attraction, which were at the heart of Gobineau's account of the role of race-mixing in the rise and fall of civilizations". Gobineau was not pleased with the version; Gobineau was "particularly concerned that Hotze had ignored his comments on 'American decay generally and upon slaveholding in particular'."
The German translation Versuch Uber Die Ungleichheit Der Menschenracen first appeared in 1897 and was translated by Ludwig Schemann, a member of the Bayreuth Circle
Bayreuth Circle
Der Bayreuther Kreis was a name originally applied by some writers to devotees of Richard Wagner's music who attended and supported the annual Bayreuth Festival in the later 19th and early twentieth centuries...
and "one of the most important racial theorists of imperial and Weimar Germany".
A new English language version The Inequality of Human Races, translated by Adrian Collins, was published in Britain and the USA in 1915 and remains the standard English language version. It continues to be republished in the USA.
Influence
Gobineau's "influence on the development of racial theory has been exaggerated and his ideas have been routinely misconstrued".Gobineau's ideas found an audience in the United States and in German-speaking areas more so than in France, becoming the inspiration for a host of racial theories, for example those of Houston Stewart Chamberlain
Houston Stewart Chamberlain
Houston Stewart Chamberlain was a British-born German author of books on political philosophy, natural science and the German composer Richard Wagner. He later became a German citizen. Chamberlain married Wagner's daughter, Eva, some years after Wagner's death...
. "Gobineau was the first to theorize that race was the deciding factor in history and the precursors of Nazism repeated some of his ideas, but his principle arguments were either ignored, deformed, or taken out of context in German racial thought".
The Historian and Hitler-Biographer Joachim C. Fest describes Arthur de Gobineau, in particular his negative views on race mixing as expressed in his essay, as an eminent influence on Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and National socialism. In the Chapter "Vision" within his Book "Hitler" he writes that the influence of Gobineau on Hitler can be easily seen and that Gobineaus ideas were used by Hitler in simplified form for demagogic purposes: "Significantly, Hitler simplified Gobineau's elaborate doctrine until it became demagogically usable and offered a set of plausible explanations for all the discontents, anxieties, and crises of the contemporary scene." However, Professor Steven Kale has cautioned that "Gobineau’s influence on German racism has been repeatedly overstated".
External links
- Essai sur l'Inegalite de Races Humaine in French at Google Books Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 4
- Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen trans. by Ludwig Scheman at Google Books Vol. 1, Vol. 2,
- Vol. 3,
- Vol. 4
- The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races: With Particular Reference to Their Respective trans. by H. Hotz, with an Appendix by J. C. Nott